Friday, November 18, 2016

When it comes to getting together over a meal, most
people don’t find this to be a problem.I can recall though on a few occasions when I found some of these visits
to be embarrassing, humorous, not so pleasant and “nope, we won’t do that again”
events.

As we prepare for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday in
America I’d like to share something that many churches or Christian
organizations do throughout the East Coast.They call these gatherings … progressive dinners!

I am so happy for your visit and hope that you come back
each week to participate in the weekly challenges.God has been faithful and we expect His favor
to abound in the lives of those who chose to be Discipled by Jesus on Daily
Favor Blog.

You are welcome to leave comments or prayer requests below.All are private. I would love to hear from
you and how Daily Favor has worked in your life.Contact me by leaving a message in the box at
the bottom of this week’s post.

Having dinners is a regular event in most churches
throughout the world.They are called
all sorts of things for such gatherings, but mostly from what I’ve learned they’re
identified as “pot luck dinners.”I
really don’t know what is involved in these dinners, as I’ve never been to one
even though I’ve been to tons of church dinners.The term isn’t used as much in the upper east
coast states.

The procedure is rather simple to get things started, and
the burden for the meal is spread out over the entire congregation or
organization.There is a sign-up sheet in
the building where people write down their name, the number of people in their party attending and the food item they will be
bringing to share.

Other names for these homemade delights are referred to
as a spread, Jacob’s supper, faith supper, covered dish, bring and share,
fuddle, carry out, take-away and of course pot luck.

Usually the amount of food to bring should equal the
size of a meal you would make for your own family.Since our family was large, the items we
brought to share would be big enough to feed a troop.

Things to bring might be a casserole of sorts, vegetables
cooked and/or raw, fruit salads, bread/rolls, condiments, butter, beverages,
desserts, meats … you get the gist of it.Anything that you’d make for your family so to speak is what people
bring.

Paper products, dishes or serving utensils are provided
by the organization holding the event. Cleanup crews are assigned with everyone getting
involved.

How They Started

Now that I’ve said all that, it’s not what I want to talk
about today …but, I thought it would be good to have a base point so you could
relate to the real subject.

My husband and I were talking about some of the past
dinners we’d attended when things just didn’t go as planned. I remember some quite vividly.

Everyone was excited for this particular event to take
place, because it was their first “progressive” dinner.My sister introduced the idea to
the church where she was currently attending. She was used to them from the place of worship we
went to with my parents.

Well, before I go on I suppose I should explain what a
progressive dinner is.

Planning the Progressive Dinner

Actually anyone can have a progressive dinner and to be
honest, they should – often!Here’s how
it works.

There are three courses planned for the event.The appetizer is a salad or soup course, but
not both. Preferably they aren’t so
large that you are too full to eat the rest of the meal.

The second course is the main meal which includes a meat
of sorts, and the third course is the scrumptious dessert served with a hot
beverage.

Not so impressive is it, but here is the key.It’s called a progressive dinner, because all
three courses take place at a different location.The guests “progress” from one food item to
another over the time period of 3-4 hours.

What makes it so much fun? Each course takes place at someone’s house,
not at the church or organization building.This way people get to know more about one another and it forces us to
clean our houses!

Hmmm. No, we didn't do this!

Rules apply as they
would anytime you go to someone’s house for a visit (don’t snoop in the
bathroom cabinets!).

Before one of these dinners a friend of mine told me that her
husband couldn’t resist looking into people’s drawers or cabinets when he was
in the bathroom.I didn’t take her
seriously, but she insisted he would.

The night of the event he excused himself from the table
and proceeded to the bathroom.It wasn’t
long before we heard a crashing sound … yep, he opened the medicine cabinet!

What was that sound?To deter our snoop we placed loads of marbles inside the cabinets and
positioned them to pour out when the door was opened or jarred in any way.He returned to the table with a smile on his
face realizing he’d been caught.Such
fun!

Leave it to the Pastor

As I was saying, it was the first “progressive” dinner my
sister’s church had ever planned.They
did things a little different by combining the methods of dinners, but it
worked out great for that congregation.

Sometimes the main meal or meat is provided by the church
(by the women’s groups or special funding for such events), and that’s
what her pastor did.He and his sister
were in charge of preparing, cooking and serving the meat for everyone.A big undertaking indeed.

One of the elders of the church took on the function of
the appetizer menu. It was delicious … cream of broccoli soup.I can’t remember ever having a better soup in
my life.Everyone raved about it as they
returned to the pots on the stove for more and more.If I had to eat one more thing I couldn’t
have because I stuffed myself with her now famous soup.

As we dined she gave those who were interested a tour of
her lovely decorated home.I was in my
glory and enjoyed every moment of my visit. Before the majority of us left we
all had her recipe (which no one could duplicate … we tried!).

Since the Pastor lived next door to the church he had his
course set up in the dining hall.People
had arrived in stages, but it was time to serve the guests.

He walked back to the parsonage to get the meal, but his
hands were somewhat empty when he arrived back at the church.Instead of bringing back any meat, he and his
sister returned with pots of green beans and potatoes – no meat.

“What happened to the meat pastor?”

“We put the new oven on automatic, but forgot to set the
timer!”

It didn’t matter … he had lots of food for Sunday’s
dinner the next day!There were plenty of
other things to eat and besides, the third course –
dessert was still to come!

It’s Not Meatloaf

In a church where I spent the first twenty-five years of
life attending, we had progressive dinners every quarter.Being reserved for the adults I couldn’t wait
until I was old enough to participate in them.

There was one time that the lot of us who joined in on
the progressive dinner, were seated at the dining table eating our fabulously
prepared main course.This couple went
overboard and the table was as stuffed as the people.

While eating the lady next to me quietly asked
(hold on ... punctuation is our friend … ) While eating, the lady next to me quietly asked, “Would someone please pass me the meatloaf?”One by one the people began to snicker, with
the pastor’s wife letting out a belly laugh.

The gracious host informed our church member that she
didn’t make any meatloaf and that the food she requested was pumpkin bread!Maybe they’ll have that at the third course
Sally.

There was another time when … I’d better not share that
one; you might be getting ready to eat.I can tell you this … please be sure the pets aren’t on the invitation
guest list!(Hint: maybe this will give
you a clue.)

We Gather Together

People of like faith today are no different than those
who walked with Jesus.Our Lord spent
many a meal in the homes of His beloved followers, breaking bread, praying and
giving thanks to the Almighty God. Literally He progressed from house to house
throughout the day, each ministering to the Master in some way or another.

The Lord enjoyed fellowship with His disciples for what
we call “The Last Supper.”People think
it was a somber time, and fail to remember that it ended with singing.(Matthew 26:30) Jesus liked sharing stories,
information and pearls of wisdom with His “friends” as He would put it.

When the Apostles were in the upper room with the other
followers of Christ (see the book of Acts) they remained in fellowship until
the Holy Spirit came to fill them with power.Besides prayer, good conversation and rejoicing, they ate almost every meal together.That must have been some kind of gathering don’t you
think?

Progressive Favor

Why is it so important that believer’s fellowship outside
the church setting?The Bible tells us
that it is possible to grow in favor with God and man.Take a look at what happened when a bunch of
believer’s got together for a few meals and prayer.

“And they continued steadfastly in
the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and
in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs
were done through the apostles.

Now all who believed were
together, and had all things in common,and sold
their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

So continuing daily with one accord
in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate
their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the
Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts
2:40-47 NKJV)

When people of God get together in the name of the Lord,
favor happens among them.Every time we
visited our family of faith in their own environment we learned a great deal
about one another.People received
progressive favor, because we began sharing the good things that God had given
us with one another.This didn’t happen
once in a while, but Daily Favor started to happen among the groups.

We learned about their occupations, hobbies, interests
and in turn friends found out that their brother or sister in Christ has
something they needed and vice versa.I
can recall men showing off their garages, workshops or vehicles.Many gained employment because they never
knew their fellow worshipper needed a job or was even in a certain line of
work.

People grow closer to one another and open up their
hearts when they are on their own turf.Newlyweds or new couples to the area would go to this type of function
rather than go to a church service.By
the time we were at the third home for that evening, they no longer felt like “newbies”
and would show up for the worship services on their own accord.They felt welcome and part of something – a family,
God’s loving family who delighted in doing good for one another.

What we can gain from this is that progressive dinners and
progressive favor have been taking place among believers since Jesus dined with
Abraham!What’s taken us so long to get
this concept?

This Week’s Challenge:

Faith, Fellowship, Food:

Instituting Progressive Dining

Visiting with friends over a cup of tea or coffee is one
of my favorite things to do.I’d like doing
the dinner thing having separate families over, but don’t have time to make the
rounds.

Getting involved in progressive
dinners allows all of us to visit, and it takes the pressure off knowing that
we don’t have to “do it all.”

For example, if the Watson’s, Langley's and Riley’s held the dinner one
month, they weren’t on the list for preparing meals for the rest of the
year.Idyllically we could dine out for
free at twelve homes (3 homes, 4 seasons).

Our challenge this week involves 3’s – 3 sets of friends,
3 courses, 3 homes. More can be involved on a larger scale, but most people don’t
have that kind of room in their homes. Don't forget to include friends that are alone, single or widowed to join in on the event.

Actually this challenge will be extended over several
weeks so it can revolve around the fall and winter holidays; I wanted to give
you a head start by opening it up the week before Thanksgiving.

First present this concept to at least three friends
(families) that aren’t related to you.It’s too easy to let sister do one thing, Mom the main meal and let good
auntie make the luscious dessert.No,
this time we’ll have to trust someone else’s cooking (of course without saying,
lots of prayer goes with this one).A
group of 8-12 people is pretty good and not overwhelming for those who are
preparing the menu.

Seven Steps for a Great
Progressive Dinner

Step 1: Decide the day and time frame keeping it to one
hour per house.Select a day when those
involved don’t have another engagement so all can enjoy the function without
any outside pressure.

Be prepared and don’t make people wait to eat or it will
cause the next step to be behind, etc.Time
frames may be something like this: Luncheon: 12-3 p.m. or Dinner: 5-8 p.m. You decide which works best for the group.

Step 2: Select who will make each course.It’s not a “pot luck” or covered dish dinner.The person in charge of the course makes
their food for the guests.Just a side
note, inquire about any allergies or special dietary needs beforehand.

Remember it’s not a barbecue, but a sit down event.All food must be pre-prepared so there is no
waiting when guests arrive. Also,
remember that you aren’t the MAIN EVENT.There are three households doing all the work, so just enjoy it!

3 Courses: Appetizer ~ Main
Meal ~ Dessert ~ Bon Appetit

Step 3: Have take-away containers for your guests,
especially if there is a lot of food remaining.Be generous and don’t hoard the food thinking you’ll have the leftovers
for your family the next day.This event
is about sharing and giving of yourselfas a disciple of Jesus.

Step 4:Reserve
clean-up for later. All couples/individuals should attend each course and not keep people waiting for you to finish the dishes. It’s important that your
guests spend time with you, after all that’s why you held this dinner
anyway.

Step 5: Honor your guests with your very best so that it
glorifies the Lord, but do not brag about “all you did” for them.Let them praise you!

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,

do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV)

Step 6: If you have pets, please restrict them to another
area so that they do not become the “activity” of your dinner.People may say that they don’t mind, but they
do when it comes to eating without any hair on their plates.Believe me, it will become gossip among the
people if you don’t follow this “no pet” rule.

Step 7: Be respectful of your hosts and thank them for their kindness.Politeness counts even more among
friends.Remember your purpose is to have
godly fellowship, not argue, talk politics or anything else that will cause others
to feel uncomfortable.

Pray over the dinner as it is being organized by the families. On the day of the event, pray before each course you eat. Include a blessing over each household and that they would increase in God's favor.

Make progressive dinners a part of your “new” resolutions,
beginning with this season.Let God work
through you, by sharing what He has so graciously allowed into your life.Fellow Disciples of Christ, believe that His grace,
mercy (unmerited favor) will surely follow you wherever you go, and be upon all that you
do for Him.

“Surely goodness and
mercy (favor) shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the LORD forever.”

(Psalm 23:6 NKJV)

As you go about planning events over the holidays, may God grant progressive favor when you “Gather Together” for
faith, fellowship and food in His name.

Friday, November 11, 2016

If I were to ask you what the number one thing is that
you dislike doing, I imagine the answer would fly out of your mouth
quickly.So, go ahead, ask me the same question.

What’s that … you want to know what ranks high on my
dislike list?Without hesitation I'd say going to the dentist is probably the highest on that chart.

Let me tell you, it’s not always easy trying
to stay in good humor when someone is probing around in your mouth with hands
the size of goliath.Not really, but it
sure felt like it.

I have to tell you though, it wasn’t that bad.With a warm blanket draped over my body and
sun glasses to shield my eyes from the blaring overhead light, they took pretty
good care of me.

My appointment was coming to an end when I looked up at
the dental technician and said, “Tell me
something good that’s happening in your life.” She looked at me and with a
blank stare on her face sat back on her chair.

I am so happy for your visit and hope that you come back
each week to participate in the weekly challenges.God has been faithful and we expect His favor
to abound in the lives of those who chose to be Discipled by Jesus on Daily
Favor Blog.

You are welcome to leave comments or prayer requests below.All are private. I would love to hear from
you and how Daily Favor has worked in your life.Contact me by leaving a message in the box at
the bottom of this week’s post.

“That’s pretty bad that you can’t think of anything.” The dentist said as he continued working.With some questioning I prodded her thoughts then Missy conveyed that she
and her husband were in the middle of building a home.

For the next few minutes Missy almost seemed surprised
that she didn’t think of it right off the bat.So many other pressing issues were happening in her life that they
seemed to overshadow the good things.

Sharing some of the details Missy explained that she was
discouraged about how long the process was taking, but hoped they would be in
their new home come late winter.Boy can
we all relate to being in a situation where things seemed to be taking the long
route to manifest?

To encourage our new dental friend, we told her to enjoy
every part of the journey because those are the things that will become great
memories.Although the building process
takes time and work, in the end it will be worth it.By the time we left, the sweet assistant was
her usual full of smiles self.

Faith, Finances and Family

For the past few weeks I’ve been inundated with messages
about people experiencing disappointment and discouragement.Hearing Missy’s story was just one of
many.People are finding that mixing
faith, finances and family has really been challenging and they’re calling out,
“Lord, I just need a break!I can’t do
this anymore!”

Well, I’m no different … I was reaching that point too
when I felt something had to give and it wasn’t about to be me.Making my plea for favor to the Lord He heard
me and granted my request.Not in the
way I expected, but through the peace of the Holy Spirit my anxiousness was
calmed and expressed itself in a most unusual way.

CJ’s Story

It was the Saturday before Election Day (November 8th,
2016) when my husband and I were at a political headquarters for the
county.There were only a few of us in
the building when a young couple arrived.He knew exactly what he wanted – a candidate’s badge and a bumper
sticker.

Fulfilling his request the gentleman began telling his
story about the time he had spent in Iraq and Afghanistan for an eighteen month
tour of duty there.As he spoke of the
details and his current health issues, I was waiting for something good to come
of all this … but nothing did.

For the next hour CJ shared his health and ongoing health
concerns, but looking at him I could see he didn’t feel well.Then he began telling us about his three year
wait for a dentist appointment through the VA (Veteran’s Administration) program.My spirit became humbled as I thought about how
I had jested over going to the dentist just a few days ago.

In Need of Favor

The following Thursday I was talking to my husband about
CJ and the first thing that came out of his mouth was … “He is in need of favor!”Oh
my, I didn’t even see the situation that way, but he was right.Now where do we go from here?

Every time I am in a position that is compromising,
uncomfortable, challenging or traumatic I pray for those who are in a similar
situation based on the passage found in James chapter 5 verse 16b.For more than twenty years, I have “prayed for others that I might be healed,”
and given favor for a good outcome.I
even prayed that while sitting in the dentist’s chair.

Although things don’t always go the way I want
or think they should, God has given me something good to share with others in
times of discouragement.

The “Righteousness of God” Clause

What our beloved trooper doesn’t realize is that he can
have favor in his life regardless to what others are doing.The Bible tells us that the favor of God is a
gift for His children under the “Righteousness of God” clause.Let’s take a look at this from Romans 5:1-2
to show you how it works.

“Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared
righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp
the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance,
introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God’s favor) in which
we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2 AMPC)

Notice that in the Greek form, the word grace is defined
as a “state of God’s favor.”What the author of Romans is telling us
is that because of what Jesus did on the cross, we have the legal right to live
in a continual state of God’s favor.

“Christ never sinned but God put our sin on Him.

Then we are made right with God because of what

Christ has done for us.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLV)

Christ took on Himself our unrighteousness, the
unfavorable part of mankind. In exchange
God gave us His Son’s Righteous favor that put us in “right standing” with Him,
restoring our relationship with the Heavenly Father.

“Right standing with Me means you have favor with God.”

Jesus Christ

Fay, how often do you have right standing with God?I have right standing with God every day
because of the Righteousness of Jesus.So if I have right standing with God I should expect Daily Favor to show
up on a regular basis.

I believe that God surrounds me with His favor, I expect
it and it does manifest in some way, every day.Goodness and mercy follow me and goes before me.

“The Holy Writings say, I believed, so I spoke.We have the same kind of faith as David had.
We also believe, so we speak.”

(2 Corinthians 4:13 NLV)

I speak what I believe in my heart. Like King David, the
favor of God shows up wherever I go because I speak it into my life every
single day, throughout the day.When it
does I let all those who are with me know it was His favor that I am blessed to
receive.

If you don’t believe in the favor of God it won’t be in
your heart, and you won’t release your faith through words so it can be
manifested in your life.Jesus told the unbelievers that what they were speaking wasn’t faith, because
lack of it was in their heart. (See Matthew 12:33-37)

“Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good
things?

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

(Matthew 12:34 NKJV)

“… out of the fullness, the overflow, superabundance of
the heart the mouth speaks.” (AMP)

What Does Continual Favor Mean?

As believer’s in the works of Christ, we can live in and
expect God’s favor to show up on a regular basis, not just randomly.Over the years people have shared some good
things God has done in their lives once in a while, but they say it doesn’t
happen often.The reason for that is
that they don’t expect favor to occur so it doesn’t.

When favor from God became a revelation to me it started
showing up on a daily basis.What we
believe DOES manifest in our lives. Favor can come in all measures, from the
little things like getting a good parking space to great events when you
receive the desires of your heart.

On November 8th, 2016 we went to a local
political headquarters to watch the election. Only one person knew we
“might” show up, depending on how hubby felt.When we arrived there was food that only a vegetarian would eat … Wahoo!

The night came to an end and I was given an entire untouched
veggie platter to take home, plus 2 unopened vegetarian friendly pizzas … over
$50 worth of food!Did I enter that
building thinking I would receive favor … yes!No, not from food or anything in specific, but somehow God would show
Himself mighty because of who He is.

Another example of favor in a unique way was when my
hubby went to a fast food restaurant asking for a veggie taco. I wasn’t even
with him when this happened. The cashier motioned for him to come behind the
counter to see the other options they had that weren’t on the menu.How cool was that?

My point is that God allows favor to come to me because
of my faith in His abilities, not mans.He
will do the same for anyone who
believes in Jesus as their Savior and follows after Him. It is part of the salvation
package of being “discipled” by Christ, but sadly most Christians never use
their full benefits as children of God.

Like so many, the hurting soldier we met was relying on
“people” to make things happen for him. He didn’t realize that His trust should have
been in God to turn the hearts of man toward granting him favor for all his
needs.

This Week’s Challenge:

Tell Me Something Good

I have been blessed even in difficult times when things
didn’t work out as planned (recently at the dentist).It is God’s continual hand on my life that
keeps me going and causes me to speak daily of His goodness and mercy.

This week’s challenge
asks us to speak (share) the good things that are happening in our lives,
so that the favor of God will rest on us continually.

A way to help you become more aware of when favor is
manifesting in your life is to write it down at night before retiring to
bed.I don’t care if it’s a cup of
coffee, a stick of gum someone gives you or getting that prime parking space …
write it down and give thanks to the Lord for His goodness endures forever!If you can see God working in the smallest of
small things, you will recognize His hand on practically everything in your
life.

As the weeks go by your list will get longer and longer,
because you now expect it and so favor is more “tangible” to you.It will also become visible to others as the
abundance of your heart speaks good things about Daily Favor being manifested
in your life.

Maybe you’re experiencing awful circumstances at the
moment and don’t think there is anything good happening.Look deeper … there is.True Disciples of Christ know the good news
of salvation promises to turn situations around in our favor.

“… To console those who mourn in Zion,To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;That they may be called trees of righteousness,The planting of the Lord, that He
may be glorified.”

(Isaiah 61:3 NKJV)

As Christians we need to share the message of salvation
and the favor of God to restore hope to the hurting.Hopefully the message we shared with that discouraged
soldier will resonate in his spirit causing him to seek the Lord for all His
needs and turn the hearts of man.

When we place our trust in God’s abilities there is
always something good to share, because of the continual state of Daily Favor
we enjoy.